The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Dromid beat Skellig in derby to reach Premier Junior final
COUNTY PREMIER JFC SEMI-FINAL Dromid Pearses 1-12 Skellig Rangers 0-6
A SOUTH Kerry derby high on passion but less so on panache culminated in Dromid Pearses navigating their way through strong winds and Skellig Rangers to become the first club into the county’s first ever Premier Junior Championship final.
In wet, wild conditions on a heavy pitch, this was never going to be a classic spectacle but Dromid possessed that little bit more in just about every key department to see off their neighbours in a match that was really just a means to an end in the shape of that county final against either Na Gaeil or Firies.
Though Dromid led comfortably by 0-6 to 0-1 at half time and moved into a 0-8 to 0-2 lead by the 34th minute, the pivotal minutes of this game came just after that. Trailing by those six points Skellig Rangers would have been happy enough in themselves that they could get something out of the match after playing reasonably well in the first half against a strong wind. The moment presented itself seven minutes into the second half when Ciaran Keating slipped the ball out to Martin O’Sullivan in the Dromid square but the Skellig man’s deft little chipped shot came back off the crossbar for what would have been a deficit halving goal.
Seven minutes later the game’s only green flag was raised at the other end of the field when Gearoid Jackie O’Sullivan and Chris Farley linked well to put Thomas Curran through on goal to fire a low shot past Padraig O’Sullivan. From being the width of a crossbar from being in a three-point game Skellig were suddenly 10 points adrift, 1-9 to 0-2, and there was only ever one winner of his local joust after that.
Opting to play with that strong downfield wind Dromid set about their stall with smart intent but as both sets of players toiled to harness the wind and adjust to a heavy cut of grass, it took seven minutes before Niall O’Shea registered the game’s first score. Curran doubled Dromid’s lead almost immediately but Skellig were competitive around the middle with Aidan ‘Dash’ O’Sullivan bringing plenty of energy to the cause.
Brendan O’Sullivan notched Skellig’s first (and only) point of the half after nine minutes, but despite creating a few decent scoring opportunities Skellig struggled for accuracy through a combination of that testy wind and a tenacious Dromid defence.
Niall O’Shea mined his second score in the 14th minute before further scores from Gearoid Jackie O’Sullivan and two very fine efforts from Graham O’Sullivan pushed Dromid into that five-point half time lead as Donal Casey had to issue a couple of cards as the local rivalry spilled over into a couple of skirmishes on the cusp of half time.
Arguably Dromid’s two most crucial scores came just after the restart when Gearoid Jackie O’Sullivan kicked his second point and Farley converted his second free. That opened up a seven-point lead for Dromid but just as importantly it curtailed Skellig from getting the bright start they needed, which wasn’t helped by a considerable easing of the wind advantage they’d have expected to enjoy.
Curran’s goal on the three-quarter mark put 10 points between the teams, and though Skellig Rangers forced a goal-line clearance moments later they never really looked like getting themselves into contention for the rest of the game. Diarmuid Keating converted two frees and substitute John Murphy scored a fine long-range point but Dromid already had one foot in the final when Farley and Eoin O’Leary scored late points to embellish a measured performance in trying conditions.
Dromid manager Declan O’Sullivan was just pleased to have negotiated a banana skin derby match and see his team into a county final.
“We’re happy with the win. The overriding factor this evening was the conditions with a strong wind blowing, and we won the toss, which was always going to be important. We built ourselves a bit of a lead by half time and then came out for the second half and the wind wasn’t half as strong, it really had died down, and that had a huge bearing on the game.
“Semi-finals, you only really want to win them no matter how, and you really just have to go and attack the opposition. If you’re given the elements from the starg you really have to take them, it’d be foolish not to.
“When you have a lead and then come out to play against the elements it’s very important to try to set the tone at the start of the second half and the players said at half time that they really wanted to keep it going in the second half becuase we have fallen out of games in the second half this year. Those couple of early scores at the start of the half really helped settle us back in the game and maybe disheartened Skellig Rangers a small bit.
“There’s two other good teams in the semi-final, and it’s a bit of a disadvantage for us now as that game won’t be played for another three weeks. We will have a really really long gap going into the final and that’s something that’s going to be difficult for us to manage,” O’Sullivan said.
DROMID PEARSES: Brian O’Leary, Cian O’Shea, Dominic O’Sullivan, Shane O’Connor, Denis ‘Shine’ O’Sullivan, Graham O’Sullivan (0-3), Padraig Jackie O’Sullivan, Kevin O’Leary, Aidan ‘Shine’ O’Sullivan, Gearoid Jackie O’Sullivan (02), Chris Farley (0-3, 2f), Kevin Sheehan, Dilan O’Donoghue, Thomas Curran (1-1), Niall O’Shea (0-2). Subs: Kealen Farley for D O’Donoghue, Eoin O’Leary for K Sheehan.
SKELLIG RANGERS: Padraig O’Sullivan, Gerard O’Sullivan, Stephen O’Sullivan, Stephen O’Sullivan, Seamus O’Sullivan, Bernard Walsh, Brendan Murphy, Anthony O’Driscoll, Aidan ‘Dash’ O’Sullivan, Daniel O’Sullivan, Diarmuid Keating (0-3f), Brendan O’Sullivan (0-1), Martin O’Sullivan (0-1), Ronan O’Shea, Ciaran Keating. Subs: John Murphy (0-1) for B O’Sullivan, Brian Hickey for R O’Shea, Brian Murphy for B Murphy (inj), Michael O’Sullivan for D O’Sullivan, Brendan Keating for G O’Sullivan (inj).
REFEREE: Donal Casey (Scartaglin)